At least 104 people were killed and 760 injured among civilians in Gaza who were trying to get help in the northern part of the Strip, according to Ashraf al Quadra, spokesperson for the local health ministry. The enclave’s government accuses Israel of carrying out an attack on crowds attacking aid trucks on Al-Rashid Street, southwest of Gaza City. Palestinian sources denounce that Israeli army troops fired on the crowd. But Israel denies it. The army reports that civilians were killed due to trampling and overcrowding during the assault on humanitarian aid trucks in the northern Gaza Strip.
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According to preliminary army investigations, as the aid trucks moved away from the forces, a crowd of Gazans approached the forces who had secured the convoy. Some soldiers, feeling threatened, fired warning shots into the air from a distance of tens of meters and some opened fire in the direction of the legs of the Palestinians who continued to approach. According to the army statement, the armed forces were informed before the incident occurred that armed Gazans had opened fire on rescue trucks in the area. The army’s Arabic spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, on X published drone images showing thousands of people attacking aid trucks and reiterated that the victims occurred “due to severe crowding and trampling.”
However, the army announced an investigation into the case. Already last month, at least twenty refugees were killed while waiting for aid in Zeitun, also in Gaza City. Even on that occasion, the Hamas Ministry of Defense accused Israel of the attack, but the army instead stepped out and announced an investigation. The group that controls Gaza has threatened to interrupt talks to reach a truce and release the hostages, following this morning’s victims.
From the office of President Abu Mazen comes the inevitable condemnation of what is defined as «a despicable massacre carried out by the Israeli occupation army. A fact for which the occupation government bears full responsibility.”